The Nigeria Correctional Service has denied reports that controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, known as Bobrisky, who received a six-month prison term for mishandling naira notes, was transferred from the Ikoyi custodial center to the Kirikiri facility in Lagos State.
It was alleged that Bobrisky had been covertly relocated to Kirikiri Prison last weekend to serve out his sentence.
However, a NCoS official informed PUNCH Metro on Thursday that Bobrisky remains detained at the Ikoyi prison.
The official, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking publicly about the case, clarified that the nature of Bobrisky’s offense did not necessitate a transfer to a high-security facility, stating, “Bobrisky has not been moved, he is still here in Ikoyi. He was not sentenced to death and didn’t get a life sentence either. Those people sentenced to death and given life sentences are mostly kept in the maximum prison. That is mostly based on capital punishment. As for Bobrisky, he didn’t commit a capital offence, so why would they take him to Kirikiri.”
Another source within the service, also speaking under the condition of anonymity, mentioned that while there were considerations to redistribute inmates among the state’s custodial centers to alleviate overcrowding, no decisions had been finalized.
The NCoS official elaborated that such transfers typically occur to manage facility populations or for health reasons, explaining, “Sometimes, when we discover that the population of inmates is much in a facility, we decide to move them just to decongest. We are only considering that at the moment and not that anyone has been moved. If the prison authorities want to move, they have the right. We also do so if the person has a communicable disease or because the inmate requested it for proximity to the family or an appeal on humanitarian grounds.”
Furthermore, the source added, “The leadership might also say, ‘Let’s spread those who have less than one year sentence’, which may apply to Bobrisky, just to create space for those awaiting trial. But such people rarely go to the maximum prison.”
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